Shifting Sands Chapter 9

Hina had woken up to a snake on her chest, green eyes looking down at her face. It was her natural instinct to stay very quiet and still, before lunging for the creatures face, and holding its jaw shut before it could bite. She took the squirming creature and chucked it out her window into the nearby bush, knocking it out. She shuddered not long after.

"Egh, snakes."

She'd had a lot of experiences with snakes now that she thought about it. She grew up in Queensland, Australia after all. Snakes practically fell from trees in summer where she lived. There had been many a poisonous snake in her backyard where she played, so her neighbour had shown her how to handle them and which one was poisonous and which ones weren't. But this wasn't Australia, so she resolved to treat them all with deadly force until she could figure out which ones could kill her, and which ones were safe.

It was the start of summer, so Hina didn't think much about it. Konoha was an incredibly hot and humid country. They were in the Fire Country after all. Snakes were expected. So she didn't pay it any mind when she found more and more dropping in on her than usual. She disposed of them via throwing them, kicking them, or evading them altogether.

Her sensei hadn't contacted her, which was becoming a source of growing anxiety. She resolved to wait another two days before taking a formal complaint up to Shikaku or the Administration office. Surely a Jounin couldn't just keep ignoring their student. There was a war going on and every hand on deck was becoming crucial. Hina went to a nearby field to train when she felt a slithering body drop on her head. Hina did a twist mid-air kicking the snake away. It flailed in the air before disappearing past the tree line… she may have accidentally overdone it with her chakra there, but the drop on her had been so sudden!

"What the fuck! Is it raining snakes today?"

After squinting her eyes and looking around suspiciously, she was happy to realise that there weren't more snakes in the vicinity. She shrugged and went back to her katas.

Orochimaru had been a little too invested in his current pet projected. He was elbow deep into a man's chest and this work was delicate. Tenketsu systems were delicate. Trying to increase the connections from the system to the heart was delicate. So when one of his summons interrupted him, he was almost having none of it.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

"Orochimaru-sama, we beg of you to stop sending us to that monster?" the little snake begged.

He stopped his work as the man's heart flatlined and exploded on his face not long after. He sighed, wiping away the viscera before considering murdering the little shit who had interrupted him. He would have strangled the little thing if it weren't for Manda. The summon was too useful and powerful to anger. So he refrained from crushing the little green snake's head.

"What monster? Danzo has never killed any of you before," he noted.

"No, the green haired demoness! She has defeated many of our stealthiest of brothers and sisters!" the summon cried.

"Suzuki Hina?" Orochimaru asked for clarification.

The snake nodded vehemently. Orochimaru was momentarily confused. Why would his new student attack his summons… unless she thought they were normal snakes. He let out a long-suffering sigh. He thought she was smart.

Had he somehow gotten himself an idiot?

Hina was in the middle of another set of push ups when she heard another rustle in the bushes. Snakes? She squinted her eyes and got up to see one peaking its head out of the bush with frankly the most terrified expression she had ever seen on an animal. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at it and it seemed to startle back. Was she insane or did that creature have a pretty human expression?

"Suzuki Hina, what a pleasure to finally meet you."

She startled, turning around to see Orochimaru of all people behind her. His sudden appearance had completely blind-sided her. Her immediate reaction was to drive a kunai through his heart, but thankfully her senses came to her and reminded her that he wasn't actually a threat. Not yet anyway. This wasn't Konoha's enemy Orochimaru, this was Orochimaru who was very much still a Konoha Shinobi, if not working with Danzo. But why was he here?

The snakes…

Suddenly it all clicked, and she felt mortified. She'd been punting Orochimaru's summons this entire day! They were trying to get to her to most likely get her to meet with him… because he was her sensei.

Orochimaru is my sensei…

Hina thought this would be an apt moment to faint like a 17th century maiden seeing blood for the first time. Instead she found her cheeks heating up in obvious embarrassment at her inability to perform basic deductions. Now she looked like a fool in front of a man who could very easily kill her.

"Oh Kami… they were your summons, weren't they?" she asked.

"They were indeed. You have instilled a healthy amount of fear into their ranks," he said.

Was that a smile? Hina regarded her new sensei properly for the first time. This Orochimaru looked young, in his late twenties to be precise. He also didn't seem all that threatening, or maybe he was hiding it to look better in the eyes of the village. Hina had no way of knowing, which put her in a dangerous position. She recalled that he had put a curse mark on Anko in the canon story. Would he do the same to her? She had no intention of allowing that to ever happen.

"I'm sorry about the summons. I didn't expect Orochimaru of the Sannin to be my sensei to be fair," she pointed out, still mildly in disbelief.

"It's nice to know that my student is in the know of Konoha's history," Orochimaru said with a sharp smile "I was impressed with your work on the cipher. You have a sharp mind, though you lack situational awareness."

"Oof that hurts sensei," she said, holding her chest a little dramatically.

"Well that is what I'm here for, to train you," he said.

Orochimaru's face was in a pleasant smile the entire time, but she knew it was a front. She had no way of knowing exactly what he was thinking. For all she knew, he genuinely hated her and would try and get her killed in the field. That wouldn't be… ideal. Then again Anko had lived. Maybe she wouldn't be dying any time soon. One thing was for sure though. Orochimaru was powerful. The kind of powerful that she would use to her advantage for as long as she possibly could.

"What are your goals for the future?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Hina found it interesting that he skipped everything about the hobbies, personal likes and dislikes and went straight to her motivations. She didn't hesitate to answer. "To become powerful enough to control my destiny."

"Well isn't that a lofty goal?" he said.

Hina shook her head. "Well, when I have to summarise it into a sentence it may seem lofty. I have a more detailed plan on how to get there of course, but I couldn't set it into stone until I found out who my sensei was. Considering it's you, I very much doubt I won't be able to achieve it."

She was being as honest as she could be with the man. Deception wasn't her strong suite. Hina knew there were a lot of different kinds of smart. She was book smart, she could understand complicated scientific concepts, and break down chemical formulas like she was saying her abc's. She could list all the bones in the body by their scientific name. She could memorise an entire encyclopedia of poisons and its uses. Those were useful skills, but being a Shinobi meant field work. That was something she would need to work on. Practical applications of her book smarts. Of course, the one kind of smart she definitely wasn't, was the social kind. Hina wasn't shy to talk to people, but playing them, managing relationships, and finding the right words to say at the right time… that wasn't her.

There was no way she could fool Orochimaru by putting on a persona she thought he would like. Either he liked her for who she was, or he didn't. Hina didn't have the heart to bullshit her persona to her sensei, evil Sannin or not. She found that kind of upfront attitude had its pros and cons.

Right now Orochimaru was playing a part. He wasn't being himself. That was dangerous. Hina needed to push him into being honest with her. She would have preferred open hostility to something hidden and waiting. If she was going to be in danger she would like to know when and where.

"First I will need an understanding of your current level of skill," Orochimaru said.

"A spar? With a Sannin?"

Whether or not he was an evil psychopath was beyond the point. This kind of experience wasn't something many could say they had. She felt her grin widen and Orochimaru chuckled.

"Battle hungry?" he asked.

"Eager to learn," she corrected.

He hummed, a pleased tone to his voice as he gestured for her to come at him. Hina didn't waste time with bowing or any other formalities. This was a Sannin. She had no way of beating him, maybe wouldn't for another decade, but she was eager to see the divide. It made her giddy in a way that made her a little reckless. So she rushed him with the Nara Taijutsu style, pinpointing any weakness she could find. He weaved through her attacks like she was a fly he needed to swat and swat he did. Orochimaru used the palm of his hand to casually push her away. She was sent flying back and had to use her chakra to skid on the forest floor and stop herself from crashing into a tree. She held her ground and watched him put a hand behind his back and gesture for her to come at him again.

Hina made a few clones and wished she had thought to bring her chakra wires with her. Hanami and Shikaku had drilled battle tactics into her head, but Hina always thought the kind you made on the fly were much better. Life wasn't a game of shogi. So instead she had her true form hide as a kunai illusion as she began attacking him from all sides. Orochimaru easily dismissed her clones and as he moved to dismiss the last one, Hina undid the transformation and moved for his throat. Orochimaru smiled at her as he caught her by her throat and squeezed.

"And you're dead," he said lightly.

Hina gasped as she was dropped to the ground in front of his feet. He didn't help her up, but she managed to do that regardless.

"Holy shit, I suck," she laughed.

"Most Genin do," he agreed with her.

Hina rubbed her throat and nodded. Yeah, it didn't hit her pride as much as it would have an actual kid. She had no grand expectations of her abilities right now. Was she better than the average fresh out of the Academy Genin, most definitely, but she wasn't anything great right now. Greatness was achieved through experience, blood, sweat and tears.

"You seem to have all the Academy basics down, with a bit of extra work on your Taijutsu. I heard you have a field medic certification." Orochimaru said.

"I do," Hina nodded.

"Any other skills you have developed?" he inquired.

Hina shook her head. "Not yet."

"And what do you want to specialise in. Iryo-jutsu?"

Hina nearly snorted. She looked Orochimaru dead in the eye. "I learnt that so I could protect my friends first and foremost. I don't want to just stop at Iryo-jutsu. I want to learn everything and anything I can."

"Everything?" he asked, his smile faltering.

There it was. A true show of his emotions. Hina nodded. She knew being a jack of all trades usually meant being a master of none. She wasn't going to let that happen. She wanted a whole arsenal of skills, the kind that would allow her to go into any situation and succeed, but it would be foolish of he to wish to specialise in any one of them so early into her career. She wasn't even sure what she would be good at. Until then, she would try everything at her disposal.

If she couldn't beat Madara herself, she'd have failed. But it wasn't just about that, it was about acquiring power in all forms. Hina hated thinking of the people in her life as pieces, but Shikaku had encouraged it so he couldn't blame her for doing so now. She had friends in high places, and Orochimaru could become one, even if it was temporarily. She needed to gain power in more ways than one to save her friends, to make sure none of them would hurt. Hina would use everyone at her disposal to do so.

"Everything," she repeated. This was her second chance. She couldn't waste it.

"Alright then, we shall get started. We have two months of personalised training before you're expected to do field missions," Orochimaru said.

Hina frowned. "No D ranks?"

"Those are done to foster teamwork within groups of Genin. I made it very clear that I wouldn't take more than one student on. You're on your own Suzuki," he said.

That she could deal with, even if it wasn't the best outcome. In some ways it helped. Knowing that she was the only one in danger, that she wouldn't have to get attached to a team only to potentially watch them die. On the other hand, there was a reason why Konoha formed 3-man bands. Not only did it foster loyalty within the village, but teamwork on the field was crucial. Shinobi were expected to work with new people all the time, but usually within their own 3-man bands which they were familiar with. By nature Chakra had a wide variety of uses, and creating a cohesive team dynamic with strangers each time would be difficult.

"What's on the agenda?" she asked.

"Get packed, your only job is to survive," he said.

Well wasn't that ominous.

It took a while for Hina to fully process that Orochimaru of the Sannin was her sensei, and she was potentially more than just his Genin student. When a Jounin took on one student, they were usually Chunin and considered something a little different. It was more like an apprenticeship according to what Kakashi had divulged to her. She was apprenticed to Orochimaru of the fucking Sannin. With that knowledge she sat down at home and began packing for her survival training. Orochimaru had provided her with a list of things, which she was quick to realise she didn't exactly have.

"Your sensei is a Sannin?" Nori asked, looking a little awestruck.

Hina nodded, feeling as surprised as her father. If she hadn't known how much of a creep he was, she too would be jumping for joy at this opportunity. But Orochimaru was a psychopath who tortured innocent children and killed hundreds in unethical testing. Hina had been in medicine. She had spent her whole life researching cures for sick people. She never took the doctors oath, and it didn't exactly exist here, but she had abided by an ethical code of conduct. There were stacks of legal avenues to hurdle through before even getting to the human testing phase, as it should be. Just knowing she was going to be around with someone who didn't respect the sanctity of ethical science, and would probably be conducting war crimes behind her back sent shivers down her spine.

"You look troubled," Nori noted, as he folded her clothes for her.

"That easy to read, huh?" Hina said, smiling for a brief moment.

"When you're worried, angry or sad your face goes blank of emotions and you put on that… pleasant smile," he said softly.

Hina looked up in surprise. "Do I… you paid attention."

Nori folded another pair of pants for her and took in a deep breath. "I'm not the best… at opening up either, but I try. Your mother and I, we were arranged for marriage. It may not have been a passionate love at first sight, but we made it work. Family isn't easy."

"It isn't," she agreed, sighing. "Do you… do you love me?"

She searched her father's warm brown eyes. It was wide with surprise, searching her own frantically. For a moment she thought he was hesitating, but almost as quickly as she doubted, he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry."

She froze in the hug before greedily drawing closer. An unexpected breathy laugh took her. "You and kaasan got to stop saying that. Just… Just tell me what I need to do."

"Just stay alive," he said, shivering.

Nori was warm against her, three times her size. In his arms she should feel safe. She remembered feeling safe in her first father's arms. An esoteric concept constrained by the mind of a child—a child who saw their parents as figures beyond reproach, extraordinary, and god-like in power. Those notions had been long since discarded, but regardless a confirmation of his love was more than enough. She clung to that desperately, because if they cared, she could justify everything she did for them.

She was beginning to realise their distance was created by fear. Fear of losing her. Her mother had already given into that fear. She was a dead man walking in Yua's eyes. Nori didn't see it that way. He looked at her and saw her. Hina couldn't break his heart.

"I won't die. It's just a training trip. Two months of camping in the forest eating smores with Orochimaru. It'll be a blast," she said.

"Right, it isn't even a mission," he said.

"I'm sure once I'm done, I'll show you how to swing from trees like the Monkey King himself. It'll be fine… trust me."

Hina put a hand on her father's knees, and he squeezed her hand back. This was good. She could fix this.

"I'll be the strongest tousan. So strong no one can touch you."

"Oh, Hi-chan. You can't promise that" he said.

"I just did."

Hina remembered familiar warm brown eyes, from a boy she knew long ago—a brother from another life maybe. Her father had his eyes. The ache in her heart was replaced by warmth in her father's eyes.

Walking out to start survival training with Orochimaru was nerve wracking. On one hand she was excited to learn from the best of the best, but on the other she knew skill in battle didn't exactly equate to skill in teaching. She carried her backpack full of things to the gate and was met by her punctual sensei. He was wearing his standard Jounin garb, and carried one scroll holstered on his back, but otherwise had nothing else on him.

"Did you buy everything on the list?" he asked in lieu of a greeting.

Hina nodded. "Yeah. I noticed toilet paper wasn't on there."

That earnt an eyeroll from her sensei. She could almost pretend he wasn't a creepy psychopath when he was acting like this.

"Toilet paper will be the least of your concerns after a week out there. Shinobi may travel for months at times with even less than you have now. Are you ready to depart?"

"Hai sensei!"

He nodded and waved at the Jounin on gate duty to pull the lever. Once the wooden doors rolled up Hina walked out into the forest with Orochimaru. Half her mind was playing up her fears about being murdered in her sleep, the other half was counting the days until she did something stupid and embarrassed herself in front of a Sannin. She wished for the millionth time she was Jiraiya's student instead. Even if the man was a sexual offender, she was pretty sure he wasn't into little girls, and torturing whatever poor soul could offer him power. Orochimaru on the other hand groomed a grieving twelve-year-old boy into becoming his next body—which gross. Technically he hadn't done that yet… so she reserved that judgement for now.

"What will we be doing during training?" Hina asked.

"I will teach you basic survival skills. How to camp, hunt, cook, bathe. We will also spend some time working on your ninjutsu and genjutsu skills."

"Genjutsu?" Hina asked curiously.

"Yes, Iryo-jutsu, which you have shown an affinity to utilises Yin-release. I have also noted that your chakra control is in the 95th percentile. Genjutsu is a difficult art, one that takes fine-tuned control over chakra."

Hina nodded. "That makes sense."

Though she doubted that even if she did learn amazing Genjutsu, it would be nothing compared to all the hacks running around with Sharingan. Bloodlines truly were unfair. She glanced up at Orochimaru and wondered if he hailed from a Clan. She decided not to ask. It seemed too personal a question for a man she was just getting to know. Instead she decided to keep this relationship purely professional for as long as humanely possible.

"Sensei," she said, testing the word in her mouth. He tilted his head at her for her to continue. She cleared her throat. "I heard you've mastered all five elemental releases, a feat few have accomplished."

"That I have."

"Is it possible for anyone if they worked hard enough or is it an innate skill your born with?" she asked.

"It can be both," he said with the slightest upturn of his mouth.

"Do you think I can master all of them?"

"That has yet to be seen."

The cryptic answer was making her pull her hair. She would bombard the man with a million other important questions about training, if he wasn't who he was. She did not want to be murdered in her sleep and it be passed off as an accident because she pissed Orochimaru off.

"Lesson one, watch for tracks," he said suddenly.

Hina nearly smacked into him with his abrupt stopping. He leant down and ran his fingers through the dirt. Hina crouched next to him, staring at whatever it was he was looking at.

"I don't see anything."

"Look for breaks, disturbances. What do you see?"

It was winter, and the leaves had already fallen during the autumn season. She looked up at the tree and then down at the ground again, realising that more should have been on the ground here. She turned to the side and noticed that they had been dispersed somehow, and some of the brittle leaves crunched into several parts. The nearby bush also had a branch half broken, held together only by sliver of a spine connecting it.

"Something crushes the leaves here and brushed against the bush. Somewhat big… but I can't tell how big? A person?" she asked.

Orochimaru shook his head. "We'll work on those terrible observational skills more. But you did notice two things although you drew the wrong conclusions."

Hina flushed, hating her incompetence. To her surprise, Orochimaru put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye.

"Don't dwell on mistakes. Just do better the next time."

"Hai sensei!"

"And ease up a bit. I'm not going to eat you," he laughed.

Somehow the laugh just made him creepier and now she was worried he would eat her. She slumped her shoulders and sigh. She'd been so high-strung in his presence that it was no doubt obvious to him. She supposed he'd just pass it off as first day nerves, or hero worship for now, but she couldn't keep being scared forever. That would just be suspicious. She didn't have nearly a good enough poker face to hide it though.

"Come then, we're going to continue tracking this creature. I will aid, but it's on you."

Hina nodded determinedly. Regardless of how evil he was, he was a Sannin offering her personal training. No way would she reject that. She continued tracking under his watchful eye, and Hina wondered if his patient front was an act or not. One thing was for sure. Orochimaru was hard to read.

A/N

Sorry for the long wait between chapters. Christmas is always a hectic period for me. I have a million things going on and work always picks up so I don't get any time off. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I love writing Orochimaru in my stories so much. I may be a tad bit obsessed with his scenes. It's just too fun. Thank you all for your comments. I love reading your thoughts.